Iron Cross
The military decoration called the Iron Cross (Eisernes Kreuz) which existed in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire and Third Reich, was established by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and first awarded on the 10th of March in 1813 during the Napoleonic Wars. The recommissioned Iron Cross was also awarded during the Franco-Prussian War, World War I, and World War II. The Iron Cross was normally a military decoration only, though there were instances of it being awarded to civilians for performing military functions. It was recomissioned once more in 2016 by the New German Reich. Design The Iron Cross is a black four-pointed cross with white trim, with the arms widening toward the ends, similar to a cross pattée. Frederick William III commissioned the neoclassical architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel to design the Iron Cross after a royal sketch. It reflects the cross borne by the Teutonic Knights in the 14th century. The ribbon for the 1813, 1870, 1914 and 2008 Iron Cross is black with two thin white bands, the colors of Prussia. The non-combatant version of this award has the same medal, but the black and white colors on the ribbon are reversed. Awards On 17 March 1813, Frederick William III – who had fled to the non-occupied Breslau – established the military decoration of the Iron Cross, backdated to 10 March, late Queen Louise's birthday. The Iron Cross was awarded to soldiers during the Wars of Liberation against Napoleon. It was first awarded to Karl August Ferdinand von Borcke on 21 April 1813. King Wilhelm I of Prussia authorized further awards on 19 July 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War. Recipients of the 1870 Iron Cross who were still in service in 1895 were authorized to purchase and wear above the cross a Jubiläumsspange ("Jubilee clip"), a 25-year clasp consisting of the numerals "25" on three oak leaves. The Iron Cross was reauthorized by Emperor Wilhelm II on 5 August 1914, at the start of World War I. During these three periods, the Iron Cross was an award of the Kingdom of Prussia, although given Prussia's pre-eminent place in the German Empire formed in 1871, it tended to be treated as a generic German decoration. The 1813, 1870, 1914 and 2008 Iron Crosses have three grades: *Iron Cross 2nd Class (German: Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse, or EKII) *Iron Cross 1st Class (German: Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse, or EKI) *Grand Cross of the Iron Cross (German: Großkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, often simply Großkreuz) Although the medals of each class are identical, the manner in which each is worn differed. Employing a pin or screw posts on the back of the medal, the Iron Cross 1st Class is worn on the left side of the recipient's uniform. The Grand Cross and the Iron Cross 2nd Class are suspended from different ribbons. The Grand Cross is intended for senior generals of the Prussian Army. An even higher decoration, the Star of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross (also called the Blücher Star), was awarded only twice, to Generalfeldmarschall Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher in 1813 and to Generalfeldmarschall Paul von Hindenburg in 1918. The Iron Cross 1st Class and the Iron Cross 2nd Class are awarded without regard to rank. One has to possess the 2nd Class already in order to receive the 1st Class (though in some cases both could be awarded simultaneously). The egalitarian nature of this award contrasts with those of most other states, where military decorations are awarded based on the rank of the recipient Category:Freistaat Preussen Category:Military of Prussia